Both Swindon’s Conservative MPs voted with the government against a Labour motion that could have seen fracking banned in a high of high emotion and chaos in the Houses of Parliament.

Justin Tomlinson who sits for North Swindon, and Sir Robert Buckland the MP for South Swindon, voted against the motion.

Had it passed, it would have guaranteed time for a bill proposing a ban on fracking until the next general election.

Such a ban was actually in the Conservative manifesto in December 2019.

But earlier on Wednesday, the government decided to order its MPs to vote against the Labour motion, saying it had become an issue of confidence in the Prime Minister. A three-line whip was applied, meaning Conservative MPs had to vote as instructed or could face suspension from the party.

Sir Robert Buckland, who would have been expected to resign his cabinet post if he voted against the government said before the vote: “This is not a vote on fracking itself, but whether or not the opposition should take over the business of the Commons, and I won’t be supporting that.

“Any future fracking would not take place without local consent, and that is vital.”

Mr Tomlinson also voted against the motion but did not respond to a request for comment.

Although the government won the vote easily – it doesn’t look like its handling of it has eased the PM’s woes.

36 Conservative MPs did not vote, defying the whip. These include former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, who is out of the country, and Theresa May, the recently sacked Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and former cabinet ministers Priti Patel and Nadine Dorries.

It is unknown how many of these were officially authorised to miss the vote.

There was significant confusion over whether the vote was being considered by the government as a confidence motion – and there is discussion, and some confusion, as to whether those that did not vote will have the whip removed.

It would technically remove the Conservatives' majority, currently at 71, putting Liz Truss in charge of a minority government, if they were all made independents.

Worse, there were allegations of some Conservative MPs being shouted at, bullied and even physically manhandled to vote the way the government wanted. Sources close to the deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey have denied she was involved.

The government chief whip Wendy Morton and her deputy Craig Whittaker seem to have both resigned, in some anger, but then unresigned.